Monday's Internet Edition, May 12, 2008.
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The parks include Veterans Memorial on Salem Street; Cushwa Stadium on Stadium Drive; Doak Park on Main and Carmalt; Turner Street Park; Carver Park and Strickland Center, which is a rental hall located at 800 Kahler St.; Central Recreation Center at 205 E. Main St. and Payne Park on Doak Street, which is a practice ball field. At one time that area was part of a landfill.
Other Parks are Kimbrell Park on Concord Street, Myers Park at 401Mason Way, Finch Field on National Highway, Lexington Park on Lexington and Old Lexington Road, Fair Grove Community Park off Cedar Lodge Road and Forest Drive. The committee provided the end goals for King Row Park, which is a soccer field, and they maintain Harper Park on Main and Randolph. The most recent addition to the park system is Hauss Park on Salem Street.
The Beautification Committee with the assistance of the Parks and Recreation Department do all the beautification work. Some of the projects that they have been responsible include: the improvement of the alley ways, the design and funding of the red brick signs that welcome people into Thomasville, the planting of flowers in front of those signs, the buying and planting of the trees that line Main Street, the lovely landscaping at the Big Chair, the buying of the banners and the Christmas decorations, paying for the murals that you find around town in which you would previously see a worn out brick wall, and the quarterly cleaning of litter off the street.
Rain has kept the committee from doing the pick-up so far this spring, however, next Saturday, once again, they will try to do the spring pick-up at 8:30 a.m. Everyone that wishes to join the Beatification Committee in the pick-up of litter efforts should meet at the clock tower across from the Big Chair. From there, Crystal Hodges and Heather Muscatello, will assign streets which need to be cleaned of trash and litter. Thomasville is part of the State’s Keep North Carolina Clean Campaign — a statewide effort to clean and beautify the State of North Carolina.
At the present time, the major project the Beautification Committee is working on is that of the third annual Spring Daze at the Depot. It will be held on Saturday, May 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event will include food booths, arts and crafts, and live music and entertainment. The Beautification Committee’s Mascot Beautyfly will also be around. The spring festival will offer the whole family a day of relaxation with friends and neighbors.
Some of the future projects that the committee has been discussing are the restoration of the Water Fountain by the clock tower in front of the Big Chair, the restoration of the west wall at Harper Park, and the designation of a Historic Walk around downtown Thomasville. The Beautification Committee is also planning an educational campaign that will be taken to the schools to introduce students to Odie Pollutant. Odie is a careless littering skunk that goes around polluting the environment.
Committee member Sue Hunter said the committee has become active in so many projects that they’ve had to create another branch.
“We are involved in so many things, that PACE (People Achieving Community Enhancement) was started as an offshoot of the Beautification Committee,” Hunter said.
In these lean days of budget cuts and clips, the committee has had a difficult time deciding what project has to wait until next year. In the meantime, every member is working hard to do as much as possible with the budget that the city allots them.
The members of the committee are appointed by the mayor and City Council. They are: Carol Brown, chairperson; Butch Langfitt, secretary/treasurer; Heather Muscatello; Larry Darr; Jane Osborne; Brenda Cline; Thea Nyll; Gloria Delgadillo; Dana Holliday; Pat Shelton; Crystal Hodges; Sue H. Hunter; Todd Sechrist, ex-officio member; and Raleigh York Jr., City Council representative and advisor.
The monthly meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 8:30 a.m. in the conference room at City Hall. Anyone wishing to attend the meetings is welcome. Call Carol Brown at 886-5189 if you would like to be put on the agenda.